


i love you more than i love ice cream

by heyfrenchfreudiana



Category: American Actor RPF, Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: DLDR, F/M, Gen, Kid Fic, i know i'm trash okay, i know what i'm about, kid narrator, rpf rpf rpf, shipping hell
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-07
Updated: 2017-04-07
Packaged: 2018-10-15 22:50:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10559014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heyfrenchfreudiana/pseuds/heyfrenchfreudiana
Summary: “Mommy,” she asked when she was getting tucked into bed. “I like it when Uncle Chris kisses you. It's like Ariel and Prince Eric.”Mommy laughed so hard her body shook and then she kissed her cheek. “Uncle Chris is a real Disney prince so I think you're onto something, Rosie.”





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Sunnie_91](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sunnie_91/gifts), [Vejibra Momiji (vm86)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/vm86/gifts).
  * Translation into Русский available: [Люблю тебя больше, чем мороженое](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15563070) by [LaurielAnarwen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LaurielAnarwen/pseuds/LaurielAnarwen)



Right after her sixth birthday, Rose Dorothy’s mama decided it would be a good idea to see a professional.

“I’m taking you to meet a Professional,” she told Rose over ice cream. When she first explained it, a Professional sounded a lot like a doctor and that made Rose’s tummy hurt just at the thought. The last time she’d seen a doctor, she’d gotten shots. Stickers too, though those weren't nearly as charming as they’d been when she was four. She hoped this Professional had a bribe better than stickers.

“Mary Lou is just someone to talk to, about school or…” Mommy paused for a second. “Mommy and Papa.” Rose could tell by the look that Mommy was giving that this was something Rose _should_ be talking about. It didn't seem like a big deal, when Rose thought about it as she sucked on the frozen gummy worm in her vanilla ice cream. Mommy and Papa lived apart and they loved her very much even though they didn't live together.  This had been routine for as long as Rose could remember, just as long as memories of plane trips and holidays in Paris and going to work with mommy and having tea parties on set with Uncle Chris or Mister Robert or Miss Lizzy, (of them all, Mister Robert was the only one who brought real tea).

As it turned out, Mary Lou was pretty nice and her office didn't look like a doctor's office at all. The first thing Rose noticed, even before shaking Mary Lou’s hand to be polite, was the tall grey and pink dollhouse in one corner of the office. Walls painted light blue, toys in bins everywhere.  It looked like a playroom and Rose felt relieved. Even more so when she got the chance to study the professional, a woman with a messy grey-haired bun and a long flowing purple skirt that looked soft to touch. Mary Lou had kind eyes and didn't say anything when Rose accidentally kicked a tower of blocks down. She sat with Rose’s mama and Rose thought maybe she was the only person alive who didn't ask for an autograph.

Rose listened as she kneeled in front of the doll house. She picked up the figures. A mommy and a daddy and a girl and a baby, and put them gently all in the kitchen. She listened as her own mommy talked about the D-I-V-O-R-C-E. Mary Lou asked if it had been hard and Mommy got quiet.

“I've had support…”

Grandma and Grandpa and her uncles, Rose thought wisely. She was lucky to have four, though Mommy said that Uncle Chris wasn't her “real” uncle, whatever that meant. She picked up a small highchair and cocked an ear as her mother talked about her. The usual, “so smart, strong-willed…” as well as some new things, (“I worry she is too quiet, too grown up…”).

And then Mommy went outside for ‘just a second’ and Mary Lou asked Rose to sit with her at the small table, next to a piece of big white paper.

“Rose, you look like an artist. Can you draw me your family?”

Rose nodded and sighed, picking up a fat black crayon. Drawing was easy enough. Big pink bows on her head and Mommy’s. And she made sure to draw Grandma and Grandpa and even Uncle Hunter, his hand up because he was waving. She picked a grey crayon for Dodger and made sure to draw the leash going straight to Uncle Chris’s hand. It looked messy but when she looked up, Mary Lou was studying her, a small smile on her face.

“You've got a big family,” she said and Rose nodded. “But where is your daddy?”

Rose furrowed her brow and picked up a blue crayon in haste because she’d forgotten all about him.

***

Mommy said she was the only six year old alive who knew how to play blackjack.

“Nah, it's math,” Uncle Chris had shrugged when Mommy pursed her lips and gave him a look that said he was in trouble. “She can count to twenty-one…”

“I can count to two hundred,” Rose interrupted and Uncle Chris laughed. His laughter always made her feel sugar-high excited and she grinned, bouncing a little on her seat. Mommy frowned but Uncle Chris kept shuffling the deck of red and white playing cards, these ones marked “Caesar’s Palace.”

Rose never thought for a second that mommy was really as mad as she was pretending, not at her and not at Uncle Chris either. Uncle Chris held out his arm and Rose saw Mommy pretend to hesitate. She fought the smile playing on her lips but ended up acquiescing like usual, folding into Uncle Chris’s arm and sitting on his lap while he dealt Rose her hand.

“You’re gonna give me gray hair. You, not Rosie,” Mommy said with a sigh. Uncle Chris shrugged that off too, his attention on Rose instead.

“Hit or stand, Kiddo?”

Rose had an Ace of Hearts and a seven but she asked him to hit her anyway.

***

Her first wiggly tooth quite honestly freaked her out. It was fun pushing at it with her tongue, no matter what Mommy said about leaving it alone, but it also hurt a little and she was worried she’d swallow it. Or worse that she’d lose it. Mommy said that she had to do her best not to lose it and that if she put it under her pillow, the tooth fairy would come and leave money right there, in her tooth's place.

When the tooth finally fell out, she was at Papa’s house (it only took some wiggling while she sat on her ipad one morning), her first thought was that she wasn’t sure she wanted the tooth fairy to come. When she started to cry, Papa looked a little overwhelmed though he did give her a very thoughtful hug and smooth away her tears.

“That’s a crazy thought, Rose, to be afraid,” he said calmly. “Besides, _la petite souris_ is the one who will come, not a fairy anyway.”

 _La petite souris_. A little mouse. Rose wasn’t sure if that was better and so she filled the rest of the day with questions, whether Papa liked it or not. (“What color is the mouse, Papa?” “Does the mouse use my tooth or does he eat it?” “What if I stay up, can I catch the mouse and keep him?”)

By bedtime, Papa was begging her to go to sleep, his hand on his forehead like he was tired himself. But she couldn’t. She hugged her doll, Marie, and she tried to count sheep and sing softly to herself and in the end, she just could not sleep with the fact that a strange mouse was about to visit her and steal all her teeth. It was creepy and unnerving and when she started crying again, Papa sighed and this time, he let her call Mommy. Mommy, Rose figured, might have a good idea for how to feel about all of it.

On facetime, Mommy did all of the right things. She asked to see the gap in Rose’s teeth and told her that there was definitely nothing to be worried about, that it was actually very exciting. This made Rose feel a little bit better but the best part of all was when she heard Uncle Chris in the background. Uncle Chris was wiser than Mommy or Papa and Rose was thrilled to get his opinion on the matter.

“Hey Kiddo,” he said warmly, his face in full view and Rose giggled because he’d shaved again.

“Uncle Chris, look,” she ordered and grinned so that he could see the space in her teeth. He whistled.

“Congrats, Rosie! Who’d you get in a fight with to get your tooth knocked out like that?”

“I didn’t get in a fight,” she explained.   “I lost it…”

“You _lost_ it? Well go find it! Where is it?”

Rose sighed and rolled her eyes, laughing. “It’s under my pillow! I didn’t lose it for reals! It came out of my mouth!”

Uncle Chris pursed his lips together and furrowed his brow like he was ready to be serious. “I see. So that means you are getting a lucky visit from the tooth fairy! When I was a kid, she brought me two quarters for each tooth and..”

Rose interrupted him before he could go on and on. “No she’s not coming. It’s la petite souris!”

Uncle Chris shook his head like this was nonsense. “What? La petite…”

“A mouse!” Rose said, feeling more and more excited about it as she talked. “Papa said he is coming to take my tooth and that he will leave me a gift!”

Uncle Chris scoffed. “Well, you know what, Rosie? That’s… look here, I’m actually good friends with the tooth fairy and I’m gonna give her a call…”

At this point, Rose was fairly sure that Uncle Chris was telling a white lie but she let him continue and played along so he wouldn’t get his feelings hurt. “You know her?”

“Of course,” he answered. “Her name is Maureen. Anyway, I’m going to call her and send her a text message and make sure she visits you tonight. I’m sure this petite mouse won’t mind having some company and…”

“But who gets my tooth then?”

Uncle Chris shrugged. “Dunno, I guess they’ll have to share it.”

Rose groaned playfully and lay back against her pillow, her eyes on Papa who was standing in the doorway, his frustrated face on and his arms crossed. The signal that he’d had enough stalling and that it was time to go to bed.

“Now listen Rosie, I’m going to tell Maureen to hook you up, alright? You’ll know her when you see her, she has pink hair…”

“Like Katy Perry?”

“Identical,” Uncle Chris confirmed. “So I’m not saying you have to stay awake and wait for her…”

Rose tried very hard to keep her eyes open for Maureen but she couldn’t quite make it. To her relief, however, the tooth was gone in the morning. In its place, a green US five dollar bill and its greenish yellow Euro counterpart.

***

They were reading Amelia Bedelia when Rose asked Uncle Chris why he couldn’t be her daddy. Just at the part where Amelia Bedelia’s dad said a new bike would cost an arm and a leg and Rose looked over at Uncle Chris and asked.

Uncle Chris sighed and asked her not to interrupt when he was reading but he paused anyway and shut the book, using his finger as a bookmark.

“You _want_ me to be your Dad, Rose?” he asked, one eyebrow arched and his voice soft. Rose shrugged and thought about it. She had always kind of thought he was in some ways because he wasn’t like Uncle Hunter or Uncle Christian, just like Mommy always said. She thought about what daddys did- there wasn’t much difference between and Uncle and a Daddy unless she was mistaken, because Uncle Chris read her stories and tucked her in when he came over. Uncle Chris ate dinner with her and Mommy, he even spent the night in Mommy’s room and she’d seen them kiss on the lips so many times, just like a Mommy and a Daddy might. In fact, Uncle Chris had given Mommy a beautiful diamond ring once, though Rose knew Mommy never wore it, just kept it in her jewelry box for safekeeping.

“I thought you were,” she confessed, picking at the yarn balls on her doll’s head. Uncle Chris stayed quiet in response, which wasn’t a yes or a no, and Rose worried she’d said something naughty.

Then Uncle Chris finished the chapter and pulled her comforter up before switching off the lamp. Before he left, he kissed her forehead and she thought maybe she saw tears in his eyes. “Love you, Kiddo,” he said, not once but twice before leaving her room, the door shutting with a soft click.

***

The weekend of the fourth of July, Rose and her mother went to Boston. Rose and Mommy had both gotten their toenails painted in the colors of the flag, with glitter stars on their big toes, and Rose tapped her feet in the sunlight so that she could see the stars shimmer. She'd never been to Boston before and she was only a little nervous.  Mommy held her hand when their cab got to Uncle Chris's house, a big bricked home that Uncle Chris had told her he'd lived in since he was her age.

It would be the first time she'd be meeting some of Uncle Chris's nieces and nephews and she chewed her lip in excitement and nerves.  Mommy seemed just as nervous, even though she put on a very practiced brave face and hid her worried eyes in her sunglasses. Rose knew in the way she bounced her own feet.

"When can we go swimming?" she asked, thinking about the pool that Uncle Chris had promised. Mommy shrugged and gave her a small smile, reminding her that they were guests and that they had to follow the Evans House Rules.

Before Rose could say anything to that, a large squeal could be heard and she gasped, eyes open wide at Mommy.  A child's squeal followed by thumps and giggles and the sound of two different barking dogs. Rose swallowed, worried suddenly that the other kids might not want to be her friend, no matter what the grown-ups said. For her part, Mommy wisely smiled and rang the doorbell.

An older woman with a brown bob and a big smile opened the door, wiping her hands on her blue jeans before holding her arms out. A hug that Mommy fell into laughing. Rose watched as they squeezed one another tight, darting her eyes around the woman to see if she could also see the source of all of the noise.

"Scarlett, it's been too long! Don't you know this is your home? There's no good reason you can't stop by more..."

"I know," Mommy laughed and Rose squeezed her hand. "I don't want to impose, Lisa..."

Lisa groaned and rolled her eyes, as if this was the stupidest thing she'd ever heard and then she knelt down and looked over at Rose.

"And you! I haven't seen you since you were  in diapers! Your mom used to wear you around our house while she read her scripts and my goodness, you've gotten big!"

Rose looked up at Mommy and inhaled, afraid to smile and feeling quite shy even though Lisa pulled her into her arms and gave her a hug so tight she thought she couldn't breathe.

"I'm glad you guys could make it, we've been looking forward to it," she added after she'd pulled away. And then she took Mommy's hand and started yelling over her shoulder.

"Christopher, you've got company!"

All of the worry fell right out when Rose saw Uncle Chris, who appeared in the hall with as big a grin on his face as Lisa. He was, to Rose's relief, wearing his swimsuit and a t-shirt. No shoes neither, which she hoped meant she'd get him to take her to the pool as soon as possible.

"Hey, Rosie!" he called out, clapping his hands together and rushing over in big steps her way. Rose met him in the middle and leapt into his arms, giggling when he spun her around and feeling overall like maybe this vacation would end up fine after all. "How was your flight?"

"Boring," she moaned because flights usually were, no matter how many movies she got to see or how many snacks Mommy brought. Uncle Chris laughed at her answer and Rose started to tell him all about the game she'd downloaded when she realized he wasn't even paying attention. When she followed his gaze, she saw his eyes on Mommy and that was alright because Mommy looked happy and relaxed just then.

"You made it," he said and Mommy nodded.    Uncle Chris put Rose down and she thought about protesting but when she saw Mommy fold into Uncle Chris's arms, when she saw their lips press together, she held it in.

Just as well because someone tapped her on her shoulder and when she looked, it was an older girl with long brown hair and a Shopkins t-shirt on.

"Do you like popsicles?" she asked and Rose nodded.

"Good because we have a whole cooler of them, come on."

They did have a whole cooler. Red ones and blue ones that changed the color of her tongue.  This ended up being the common ground needed to make friends with the other kids too, who let her join in when they splashed in the pool and fought over who would get to ride on this giant inflatable pizza. It was incredible and several times, Rose thought her cheeks hurt from laughing so much. She stuck near the other girl and they played hide and seek with the boys and stayed out of the grown-ups’ way, (except for Uncle Scott, who was actually a real uncle by blood, because if they tiptoed behind him he would turn around and fake snarl before throwing them each in the pool).

Rose looked and didn't see Mommy or Uncle Chris, a bummer because she’d wanted to go swimming with both of them. When she looked, she was interrupted each time by a grown-up who said she needed to go play, that Mommy would be down soon. They appeared at bedtime, hand in hand at the bottom of the stairway up to the room meant for Rose and Mommy and all Rose felt was relief. When they kissed each other that time, Uncle Scott and all of the nephews groaned but Rose didn't think she’d seen a happier sight.

“Mommy,” she asked when she was getting tucked into bed. “I like it when Uncle Chris kisses you. It's like Ariel and Prince Eric.”

Mommy laughed so hard her body shook and then she kissed her cheek. “Uncle Chris is a real Disney prince so I think you're onto something, Rosie.”

***

Whenever Mommy talked to Papa on the phone, she cried. She usually tried to hide it, but Rose always knew Papa was on the phone when Mommy’s voice hushed or if after, she was sniffing and her voice sounded strained like she was trying to swallow a boulder. They didn't talk a lot and when they did, they never let Rose know what they talked about but Rose always felt Not Right when she saw the aftermath.

One day, when Mommy and Rose were on vacation in Los Angeles, Uncle Chris visited them at their hotel and announced that he was taking them to Disneyland. Rose had been to the Eiffel Tower and on an African Safari and she’d seen real life penguins in the South of Chile but she’d never been to Disneyland (“put it on our bucket list, Rosie”, Mommy said).  So the announcement that they were spending the day at Disneyland made Uncle Chris instantly Rose’s favorite person in the whole wide world.

It was when they were standing in line to meet Belle, when Rose was admittedly whining because she’d seen a little boy with a ginormous mickey mouse shaped chocolate ice cream on a stick, that someone had decided to take a picture. Rose knew, her stomach falling, based on years of instincts and training that this was not good and she looked up anxiously to see how the grown-ups would react.

Mommy looked over at Uncle Chris and swallowed, saying something to him with her eyes that Rose couldn't figure out. She lifted her hand silently and Rose caught glimpse of the shiny ring that she usually kept hidden. Uncle Chris inhaled and Rose thought maybe she saw a flash of panic, though he quickly hid it when he looked down at Rose.

“Just as well, I guess we are pretty shitty at keeping secrets,” he said with a sigh and a smile. “Rose, I’ll buy you that ice cream as long as you quit whining. Scarlett, I’ll buy you one too if you promise not to freak out about this…”

“I haven't talked to Romain, Chris.” Mommy’s voice sounded strained and Rose wondered if she’d earn her ice cream or not.

Uncle Chris lifted Mommy’s hand to his lips and pulled her close, as if he was gonna ignore her very much freaking out. “Scarlett, I love you and I don't care. In fact, I'm going to kiss you and it will be on the internet before you can say bananas…”

Rose said “bananas” ten times and they kept kissing anyway. And then he did buy her and Mommy each a Mickey Mouse ice cream.

The next morning, she pretended to be sleeping when Mommy was on the phone in the next room with Papa. Lots of hushed whispering and curses. Rose figured Papa and Mommy were talking and she tried listening until she saw Uncle Chris peek his head through her door.

“Rosie,” he whispered and she squinted her eyes open, noting that he looked very serious. As if he had heard Mommy talk to Papa too. He came in and sat on the edge of the bed and Rose waited for him to talk.

“Rosie, you know I love you and your mother so so much. And that we are going to be a family…” He talked carefully and Rose held her breath, understanding that whatever he said was important.

“Well, anyway, I don't want you to think I'm taking the place of your Papa, because that is impossible…”

With that, Rose sat up and wrinkled her face because that _was_ about as possible as her getting a dinosaur for a pet. “You are Uncle Chris!”

He smiled and twisted his lips, the hairs on his beard straggly still in the morning. “Always.”

“Does this mean you get to live with us? You and Dodger?”

Uncle Chris nodded and Rose thought about what that meant. It sounded like a nice idea, especially if Dodger was coming. She wondered if they could get him a big red dog house. And then she thought carefully about what Uncle Chris might need to hear.

“I think this is a great idea. Someone should keep Mommy company when I go to Papa’s and I don't know if anyone else can handle her.”

He laughed and hugged Rose but Rose kept going. “Really, you should know that she sings all the time, even in the bathroom, and that she is very strict about bedtime.”

“Noted,” he said, ruffling her hair. He’d come in sad but suddenly seemed in a good enough mood so she thought it a smart idea to take advantage by asking him if he’d make Mickey Mouse pancakes for breakfast. He also made ‘R’-shaped ones and Rose decided if he was gonna move in as promised, she could definitely get used to that sort of thing.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Via Google:
> 
> “Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken.” Elaine -age 5
> 
> "When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You know that your name is safe in their mouth.” Billy – age 4


End file.
